Performers
- Rebecca JonesViola
About This Event
English composer John Woolrich is a relative latecomer to the music world, having first studied English at University before going on to study for a masters in composition with Edward Cowie. He has often said he didnât really find his musical voice until he was 28 years old, yet the sound world he creates is instantly recognisable, and his love of literature shapes much of his music; not only through the titles, but through the narratives, the strong rhythmical drive, the winding chorales and wonderful lyricism.
Woolrich is particularly fond of subdued instrumental colours and the sounds of the lower register, so it is no surprise that one of his earliest works, the exquisite Ulysses Awakes, is written for Solo Viola and ten solo strings. In the composers own words âthis recomposition - a reworking if you like - is of the moment early in Monteverdiâs opera when Ulysses wakes on the beach. Heâs home after twenty years away, but he doesnât knowâ.
In Ulysses Awakes, premiered by Clare Finnimore and the Guildhall String Ensemble at the 1989 Dartington International Summer School, Woolrich cleverly intensifies Monteverdiâs original music by removing the resolutions at the end of phrases, meaning passages are often left hanging in the air, which truly reflects Johnâs words that this piece is âabout expectation without arrivalâ.
Programme Note © Amy Campbell
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This concert will be available in video format - it will not be possible to have an audience at ±«Óătv Hoddinott Hall